Apr-24: The story of Atmadeva
The Mahamantra was led by Zivanji and family from Chicago.
Narayananji from Boston gave a short talk on the significance of satsang:
In Priyavrata’s charitra in Srimad Bhagavatam, the king’s great qualities are highlighted. After tgatm Sage Suka continues to narrate Priyavrata’s lineage. His son was Nabhi and Nabhi’s son was called Rishaba. Rishaba Yogeeshwara was a personification of dispassion. He gave away his entire kingdom to his sons and wandered from place to place like true renunicate.
Bharatha was his eldest son who ruled our land and hence the name Bharata Desha.
In today’s satsang, let us reminisce the other nine sons who were great Yogishwaras themselves – Kavi, Hari, Antariksha, Pippalayana, Prabuddha, Avirhotra, Drumila, Chamasa and Karabhajana. Once these nine great men showed up at the court of King Nimi, who ruled over the Videha kingdom. They shared their pearls of wisdom at the sacrifice in Nimi’s court, which forms part of the eleventh canto of Srimad Bhagavatam that speaks about the greatest truths.
Nimi welcomed them and said,
“Durlabho Manusho deho dehinaam kshanabanguraha
Thatrapi durlabam manyae vaikunta Priya darshanam”
King Nimi says that it is very difficult to be blessed with a human birth, and even when thus blessed is highly fleeting. However, the rarest of all is to have the darshan of someone who is a realized soul.
He further goes to say,
“…samsaaresmin kshanaardhopi satsangah sevadhir nrunaam”
In this world of mundane desires, even half a moment of true satsang is precious, he says. A satsang is either the association with a realized soul or a place where the Divine Names and glories of God are spoken about. Our Friday satsangs are examples.
Then, Zivanji lectured on the importance of Srimad Bhagavatam as seen in Padma Purana. He quoted the story of Atmadeva to outline the glory of Srimad Bhagavatam.
On the banks of Tungabdra river, lived a well learned person by name Atmadeva. He was good natured person, while on the contrary, his wife, Dunduli always liked to talk about others and cause chaos in other families. The fact that he was not blessed with a child made Atmadeva a very sad man. He performed Putra Kameshti Yagna and other rituals, but of no avail.
Atmadeva lived with a ray of hope that someday he will be blessed with a child. However, as years passed by, his hopes started to diminish and one day unable to control his emotions, set out of the house. He didn’t know where he was going and finally reached a jungle. He was sitting under a tree and there was a beautiful river in front of a tree. After some time, he saw a sage taking a dip in that river. His eyes caught sight of Atmadeva and seeing him in a very depressed state walked towards him and enquired about him. As we all know, Sadhus are compassion personified and seeing the Sadhu, Atmadeva couldn’t control his emotions told all about him. After hearing his desire to be blessed with a child, he started to perceive if he was fortunate to have a child in that birth.
The Sadhu could foresee that Atmadeva was destined with no child birth not only in his present birth but also in all his future births. Hearing this from the sage’s mouth Atmadeva broke down and the sage was unable to console him. The sage tried to advise him that as the number of relationships (like the father-child/ husband-wife) increases, they are accompanied with joy and sorrow as well. The sage talked to him on the realties of life and advised him to take the path of an ascetic. The only relationship that an ascetic life has is that of a Guru-Sishya and that path has only eternal happiness.
Atmadeva was not ready to hear it. He started to reason out as to why he didn’t want to adopt to the path of a sanyasa. It is said that in our shastras, there is forgiveness for the sins that one commits in a worldly life, but once if we take the path of Sanyasa then there is no forgiveness for any sins that a Sanyasi might incur. Atmadeva declined and he told him that he was not ready for it yet. He still insisted that he wanted a child.
Seeing Atmadeva in that state, the sage gave Atmadeva a fruit and requested his wife to eat it and told him that they will soon be blessed with a child upon eating the fruit. Mahans have divine powers that they can even change the fate of a person as seen above. Atmadeva was destined to not have a child in all his births, but an acquaintance with a sadhu changed his fate. The mahans due to their intense penance can play football with all the nine planets and change the destiny of any person.
Overjoyed by this, he thanked the sage and came back to his house and asked his wife to eat the fruit. His wife was not very happy to hear this. She did not want to have a child as she was not prepared to bear the pain during the child birth. She devised a plan and asked Atmadeva to go out on a pilgrimage tour before the child was born. Atmadeva agreed to this and happily set off. In the meanwhile, she threw the fruit in her cow shed. She was curious to see the outcome of the sage’s prediction and so she waited to see if the cow gave birth after eating the fruit. In the meanwhile, her sister also gave birth to a child and she had already decided to adopt that child and had already had planned to inform her husband that it was indeed their child who was born after eating the fruit. Meanwhile, the cow also gave birth to a human who had cow’s ears.
Atmadeva returned from his tour and was very excited to hear the great news. He named his first son as Dundukari, who was born through his sister-in-law and named the other son who had cow’s ears as Gokarna. As expected, Gokarna had all divine qualities while Dundukari had all the vices.
Over time, Dundukari started to abuse his parents and this really worried Atmadeva. Seeing his father being abused by Dundukari, Gokarna requested his father to renounce the world and requested him to go to forest to do penance and read Srimad Bhagavatam. This was what the Sadhu had earlier told him to do!
Sadhus and Mahans speak very little. Their actions are only for our well-being. So obey the sadhus orders without questioning it. Atmadeva promptly abided to his son’s words and left the house and set out to forest. He did penance after couple of years attained the lotus feet of the Lord. Gokarna left his house after his father’s departure. Dunduli who couldn’t bear her son’s torture ended her life as well.
As years passed by, Dundukari started to commit more and more sins by bringing women folks to his house. The women folks who couldn’t withstand the torture decided to punish him and they killed him and ran away from that place. The news spread far and wide and Gokarna on hearing his brother’s demise and Dunduli’s death , after performing the final rites in Gaya decided to return to his house. When he returned, a very gory sight caught him. His house was in a very terrible state. He sat in his usual spot in his house to do penance when he heard a strange voice. He started moving in the direction towards the voice and along his way he sprinkled water. At that moment he saw a very horrible face. Upon enquiry he found out that it was Dundukari.
Dundukari told him that the sufferings that he was currently undergoing was inexplicable and was due to the sins that he had committed and requested Gokaranan to find an elixir for the sufferings that he was currently undergoing so that he can reach the holy feet of the Lord. Gokarna decided to help his brother. He went around asking people on the remedy and everybody told him that the final rites which he performed in Gaya would suffice and if that didn’t help then nothing else would help! But Gokarna was not dithered by this and he continued asking many learned scholars and one of them advised him to ask verily the Sun God. So Gokarana went to Lord Surya and asked him for the remedy. ‘ Perform Bhagavata Saptaham’- came the reply. That is the only resort for the soul to attain Moksha. So he immediately made all the arrangements for the saptaha. The arrangements were akin to that of a grand wedding.
In addition to this, he bought a bamboo shoot with seven nodes and installed Dundukari’s soul onto it. At the conclusion of everyday’s Parayana of the Saptaha one node would burst open, signifying that each and every day of the Saptaha bestows good merits. At the end of the seventh day, all the seven nodes burst open, Vishnu Dhootas arrived in a vehicle from Vaikunta and took Dundukari along with them.
Such is the prowess for Srimad Bhagavatha Saptaham. When the villagers questioned as to why it was only Dundukari who attained the holy feet of the Lord and not them, it was because he listened to the whole Saptaham with full devotion and concentration.
Thus Sanatkumaras narrate the glory of the Bhagavata Saptaham to Sage Narada.
The satsang ended with prayers and Namasankirtan.
Apr-17: Ekadasi – Science & Scriptures
The Nama Sankirtan was lead by Nainar Mohammad from Mountain View, California.
We know the story that Rama and Sita who lived in Ayodhya and following Dasartha’s (Lord Rama’s father) orders, Rama went to forest for fourteen years. There he lost Sita Devi to Ravana and waged a war to get her back. During this journey, he met Hanuman, Vaali, Sugriva – many great devotees including Vibheeshana.
One way of looking at it is from a story perspective- the story of a great king of the Solar/Ikshvaku dynasty. The other way to look at it is from a philological perspective. All the stories in our Sanatana Dharma do have a philosophical view. Rama is the Paramatma and Sitadevi is the Jeevatma. Hanuman is verily the Guru. Sita Devi was separated from Rama for ten months. This ten months of separation that she underwent is akin to the ‘Garbha vasa’(the ten-month stay for the fetus in the mother’s womb) and then she gets united with Paramatma with a help of a guru called Hanuman.
Our Swamiji conveys a very interesting point. Sitadevi who is the Jeevaatma comes to meet Lord Rama who is the Paramatma when Rama broke the bow in Mithila. Here Sage Vishwamitra is the Guru. Vishwamitra is the friend of the world. A guru is supposed to be a friend of the world. A friend need not be a guru but a guru is most definitely a true friend! Here, Sage Vishwamitra is the guru and with his help, Jeevatma and Paramatma are united in wedlock. And from that point in time, it shows how a perfect ‘jiva’ should behave. Seetha being a Pativratha, had never looked at any other male. The moment Sitadevi married Rama, she was with Him always both during joyful and sorrowful times.
When Rama was ordered to go to the forest she was very adamant that she would also accompany him to the forest, as wherever Rama lived was her Ayodhya. That clearly outlines how a devotee should actually be. He should be in the company of the Lord. Now comes a twist. Let’s see what happens when a devotee is distracted from the company of the Lord. The moment she took her eyes from Lord Rama, and was attracted to a beautiful deer, misery befell her. At that point in time, there was something more beautiful to her than her husband. And that was that golden deer. In our scriptures, deer is equated with manas/maya/mind or the world. She got separated from het husband.
The key take away point from Ramayana is that one should always be in the divine company of the Lord. And the divine company is verily satsang.
Followed by introductions, Aravindji from Orlando gave a beautiful talk.
Every religion has a founder and the religion derives its name from the founder or from the holy book. For instance, the religion Christianity derives its name from the Jesus Christ. The word Buddhism, is deduced from Buddha and so on. When we take the religion Hindu, the word Hindu is neither the founder’s name nor is it present in the scriptures. Since there was only one religion present in the whole world, there wasn’t any need to give it a name.
Let’s take a step back and first define the word religion. It comes from the Latin word “religare” which binds each one of us to where we originate and that is none other than God. Any path that shows the route to get united back to the place from where we originated is called Religion.
Now let’s come back to the religion that was prevailing all throughout the world without a name. It did have a name but there was no need for it to be referenced by that name. That religion was Sanatana Dharma. Sanatana means eternal. And Dharma means righteousness. It was the only prevailing religion throughout the world, until the advent of new religions.
If we take the Mexican god, Quetzalcoatl, one can see that he is seated on snakes and is holding corn shells by his side, which precisely points to Lord Vishu from Sanatana Dharma. Let’s now take an example from southern hemisphere, the Aborigines of Australia. It is seen that on the day when the natives of India go over the holy hill of Arunachala praying to Lord Shiva, the Aborigines of Australia pull out a boy from the village and smear him with ashes all over his body and mark a tilak on his forehead signifying the third eye. They circumambulate around this boy and this boy for this festival is called Shiva. So, one can clearly see the presence of Sanatana Dharma in other religions as well.
As years passed by, more and more religions came into existence and hence people wanted to give Sanatana Dharma a new name. Since Indians were adept in trading and had expertise in dealing with merchants, they used to go all over the world and navigate by ship. If we step back and see how the word ‘navigate’ was coined, it came from the Sanskrit word, navgati, where the word ‘nav’ means boat. Indians were pioneers in navigation and since they extensively glob-trotted, Santana dharma thus spread worldwide.
The Indians did a lot of trading with the Persians and the Chinese. Since there was lot of religions which were coming into existence in the Persian world, the Persians decided to confer a new name to Sanatana Dharma. They initially wanted to name our religion as Sindhus, the people who come from the land of Sindhu, the land of Indus. They had difficulty in pronouncing the word Sindus and hence gave the name Hindu. The British people who came to India started to call us as Hindus. That’s how we got the word Hindu. And if we ponder as to who the founder of this religion was, the answer is no.
Hinduism is an experience of many saints and rishis. They did penance for many years and as a result of that they were blessed with Lord in the form of Vedas and gave it to the mankind. Are the Vedas really useful to this? Let’s take the sloka –
“Shuklambaradaram Vishum Sashi varnam chatur bhujam
Prasanna vadanam dyayeth sarva vignobhasanthayae”
It is interesting that in this sloka, dedicated to Lord Ganesha (who is an elephant God), they refer to him as ‘Sashi Varnam’ (color of the moon – which appears silvery white). It is strange because we have never heard of ‘silvery’ or ‘white’ colored elephants, have we? The only one that we know of from our scriptures is ‘Airavatha’. But Ganesha’s head was from a dead elephants, our scriptures say; so this is ruled out too!
All elephants are darkish grey in color. Then why did our Rishis call Lord Ganesha as ‘sashivarnam’?
The Rishis perceived the soil color of the moon because of their immense penance and this was later found to be true when the astronauts from NASA travelled to moon and when they picked the soil in moon they found it to be dark-grey in color. We can clearly see that religion can be proven by science.
In a similar manner, Rishis have clearly outlined the ways through which we can attain the lotus feet of the lord. One such path is ‘Ekadasi Vratha’. Ekadasi refers to the eleventh day of the fortnight belonging to lunar month. It is the eleventh day after the full-moon or the new-moon day.
On the day of ekadasi, one has to sincerely perform Upavasa. The word “Upa” means “Near” and “Vasa” means ”stay”. Ekadasi upavasa means staying near to the god all day. And the means to stay near god is verily through Nama Sankirtan, thinking about guru. But Vratha means fasting. So why should we fast on ekadasi day.
The science behind Ekadasi
If we take any particular system, the components of that system are governed by the laws of that system. We are part of solar system and what ever rules govern the solar system also imply to us. The earth is part of the solar system and we are part of the Earth/
On a full-moon day, the tidal waves in the ocean are very intense than any other normal day. It is because of the moon’s effect on the water. The moon’s effect is clearly seen on the water since water is liquid in nature, but the effect on earth is less perceivable. If we go to an asylum it is seen that the lunatics behave very strangely on a new-moon or a full-moon day because the moon has an effect on the mind akin to the sun which has an effect on the soul. The sun is called the atmakaraka. Atma means soul and karaka is the director. The word lunatic is derived from the word ‘lunar’ which translates to moon. It can be very clearly felt that during rainy days, one does not feel hungry whereas on a sunny day we feel extremely hungry. The mind works with the help of chakras. There are seven chakras and the mind uses these seven chakras in order to function. Just like how the same base (mud) is used to build a mirror and a pot but only the mirror reflects objects, in the same way whatever food we consume reflects our mind. Even though the mind travels through these seven chakras, there are only two chakras where the mind is at peace. They are the agnya chakra and anahata chakra. The agnya chakra is located right between the eyebrows and our rishis have strongly advised us to wear a tilak in the forehead because the mind at this focal point can be easily manipulated. The anahata chakra is located in the heart. On the eleventh day after the full-moon or the new moon, our rishis have proved that the mind is at home and hence comes to peace. On every other chakra the mind is very active and our minds cannot be controlled. The rishis have tuned their mind in such a way that the mind will abide to what the rishi’s desire to do and not the vice versa. The rishis have control over the mind and only when one has control over the mind, can one think about the lord. On the day of Ekadasi mind comes to rest and hence one should think about the lord in order to attain his lotus feet. So what does ekadasi got to do with fasting? When we eat more, the digestive system needs more oxygen and blood in order to digest the food. Hence the mind and other parts of the body are deprived of oxygen and that’s the reason we feel sluggish after eating. There are primary two reasons for fasting, the brain is not deprived of oxygen and secondly it is very beneficial for the body to rest the digestive system once a while in order for the body to function properly. We need a healthy body even for spirituality.
From our Puranas…
Let’s substantiate the significance of ekadasi from Srimad Bhagavatam. There was a great king called Rukmangada, and belonged to Ikshavaku dynasty akin to Lord Rama and ruled over Ayodhya. His wife was Sandhyavali and had a handsome son Dharmangada. One day he was taking a stroll in the patio and he saw some fairies (apsras) stealing some flowers from his garden. This sight caught his attention and he ran out to catch them. The fairies eyes caught sight of this and they started to flee in their celestial vehicle. Just as they were about to fly, Rukmangada caught hold of the celestial vehicle and it stopped moving. Since the celestial vehicle would stop at the very touch of a human, the fairies were in a state of confusion as to what to do next. Hearing this, an old day who has been observing Ekadasi fasting ever since her childhood came and touched it and the vehicle started to move. Rukmangada was surprised as to how an old lady can make the vehicle move and inquired about this. On enquiry he learned about the old lady’s Ekadasi vratha and from that day on, he started to observe Ekadasi fasting.
On the day of Ekadasi, he would fast and only think about God. The devas who were watching this wanted to test Rukmangada. One day, they sent a beautiful maid by name Mohini in front of Rukmangada in the forest where he was hunting and he instantly fell in love with her. He requested her to marry him and she agreed to it provided he satisfies her wishes. Rukmangada readily agreed to her conditions as she was smitten by her beauty and married her. One day, she requested him to have food. That day being Ekadasi, Rukmangada politely refused to that wish and pleaded with her to waive it. But Mohini wouldn’t listen and threatened him.
After numerous pleas from Rukmangada to ask for something else instead of making him break his Ekadasi vows, Mohini asked for the head of his son, Dharmangada and also ordered that not a single drop of water should come out of her eyes. The little boy readily agreed to be beheaded and so did the queen Sandhyavali, for, the whole family considered Ekadasi vows as the supreme.
Just as Rukmangada took his sword to behead his beloved son, Lord Vishnu was pleased with Rukmangada’s steadfastness on Ekadasi fast and Himself appeared in front of the King and amply blessed him.
Thus, it is very clear that Rukmangada was one of the very chosen devotees from this sloka
“Prahlada Narada Parasara Pundarika Vyasa Ambarisha Sukha Sounaka Bheesma Dhalbyan
Rukmangada vashishta vibishanadhin punyanimam parama bhagavathan smarami”
And such is the greatness of Ekadasi.
The satsang ended with Nama Sankirtan – prayers, by Nainar Mohamed.
Apr-10: Saint Tukkaram
The satsang started with Mahamantra kirtan by Sankarji and family from California.
“Although Srimad Bhagavatam is popularly known as a Bhakti Grantha, it contains everything from Yoga secrets to Vedanta. In the fith canto, Srimad Bhagavatam shows us the epitome of dispassion and Jnana through the lives of Rishaba Yogeshwara and Jadabharata. It shows the state of a Jnani. There is an episode wherein Jadabharata gives an upadesa to king Rahugana on how a Jnani is beyond duality. While it was too tough for Rahugana to comprehend, Jadabharata says,
“Oh Rahugana! You cannot attain the supreme knowledge by any amount of penance, oblations in water or fire, chanting the Vedas, yoga, sacrifices and offerings. That state is simple unattainable unless you bath yourself in the dust of the holy feet of Mahans and Jivan Muktas.”
Then he goes to say, “One has to always remain in the regular company of devotees – and this company is devoid of any kind of mundane and worldly talk. The devotees of the Lord talk about the glories of the Lord and sing His Divine Names.”
Ours is one such satsang where we don’t have any mundane talk. All we do is just sing the Divine Names and glories of the Lord.”
Then Ramyaji from San Jose talked about the life-history of Sant Tukkaram.
In our daily lives, we often use the word Dharma. When we are discussing if a particular act is right or wrong, one may ask is this act in accordance to Dharma. We use the word Dharma many times, but do we really know the exact meaning of this word Dharma. So let’s ponder on the definition of Dharma. It is a set of guidelines that have been laid by the Vedas and scriptures and our great maharishi’s for us to follow. These sages have not only given the set of rules but have also lead a life that exemplified Dharma. They sacrificed their entire life and performed years and years of penance and as a result have given us a set of guidelines that we call Dharma. As long as we follow Dharma, life is going to be joyful. It is akin to a train conforming to the rail-track. As long as the train chugs along the track, the journey is going to be pleasant. Once the train comes out of the track, it is a disaster. Isn’t it? The moment we go away from Dharma sorrow befalls us. There are two types of Dharma. The first one is called Vaidika Dharma and the second Dharma is called as Bhagavata Dharma. Vaidika Dharma is a set of rules that have been laid down by Vedas. Who is a Vaidika? Any person irrespective of any caste, creed and who accepts that the Vedas are the ultimate authority is a vaidika. Bhagavata Dharma on the other hand is another Dharma that is shown by the vedas. This Dharma is a result of the great compassion of the sages and maharishi’s who had immense for-sight due to hundreds of years of penance. The could perceive how the world would be in kaliyuga and hence bestowed the jivas with Bhagavata Dharma in order to enable the jivas to reach the holy feet of the lord. What is Bhagavata Dharma? It is all about devotion and bhakti. That unlimited and unconditional love for god is called bhakti. There is a famous verse sung by the great saint Thirumular, “Aasayai arumin aasayai arumin isanodayinum aasaiyai arumin” in which he conveys a beautiful message. His advice to the jivas is not to have any desires in life, and the word desire in this context doesn’t refer to worldly life but it only pertains to spiritual life. Let’s ponder on this by an example. One may go to the lord and pray for some wish to come true. If that wish comes true, he doesn’t go and see lord till he has another wish to be satiated by the lord. On the other hand, if the wish doesn’t come true, it itself turns into hatred the very next moment. There was a village in Tamil Nadu in which there was a Ganapathy temple. It was in dilapidated condition and resembled a haunted house. The local villagers did not bother to take care of the temple and it was closed. There was once a boy who crossed this temple in that village. He was traveling to a neighboring village on a job hunt. The boy on seeing the pitiable condition of the temple, started to make the temple tidy and in few hours, the temple wore a new look. The boy went and prayed to the lord Ganesha in that temple asking him to bestow him with a job. The lord was extremely pleased. The Lord thought that none of the local villagers in that village bothered to clean the temple and this took the initiative to clean the temple. He was very happy with this boy and made his wish come true. So what happened?? The lord’s blessing itself became a curse. The boy got his job and it was the end of the story. He never turned back to the temple. That is the difference between desire and love. When we light a lamp with a motive a mind, we would stop doing it the moment our wish is satiated. On the other hand, a devotee lights a lamp to enjoy the beautiful face of the lord. That’s why the great sage Tirumular says “Asaiyai Arumin”, which means, do not nurture desire but nurture only love. As it is said,
“Kadhalagi kasindhu kanir mulgi”, which means develop that unstinted and unconditional love and devotion to the lord. Love for the sake of love. That love is what Bhagavata Dharma is all about. The azhwars, nayanmars, and all the sants of Pandarpur have shown the path of bhagavatha Dharma.There have many bhaktas of the highest order who have hailed from our holy land. But if we take the state of Maharashtra, there have been innumerable bhaktas. If we are reminiscing about the life-history of one devotee a day, a life-time would not be enough to talk about all the bhaktas. A kshetra (holy-place) is known to the world not by its stala purana (history), but only by the devotees who have performed bhakti to the lord in that kshetra.
The fact that makes the bhaktas of Pandarpur stand out of the list is that they were all householders and had a family. They were still the devotees of the highest order. They earned their bread by hard-work. They wouldn’t go and ask anybody for money and they would always be thinking of their lord Vittala always.
One such great sant of Pandarpur was Sant Tukkaram. He was a re-incarnation of Sant Namadev. He was born in Dehu Road in Maharashtra. In his birth as Sant Namadev he had taken a vow to sing crores of abhangs on Lord Vittala. Since it was not accomplished in that birth, he came down to the earth as Sant Tukkaram. There is yet another reason as to why the devotees of the lord would not want to stay in Vaikunta. There is neither chanting of the divine names of the lord nor any satsang and hence devotees of the highest order want to come to the earth to sing the lord’s glories.
A householder, with wife and children, he left the burden of his family on Lord Panduranga. He was forever in the thought of and singing the Praises of the Lord. Tukkaram would now and then open his shop and try to do the business of selling provisions.
One day Tukkaram’s wife somehow managed to fill the boxes with various provisions and asked Tukkaram to conduct business. He opened the shop and sat behind the counter. Soon a man came singing ‘Hari! Hari!’ He had gopi chandan mark on his forehead, tulasi mala around his neck. The highly pleased Tukkaram said to him, “Take anything that you need and as much as you need.” The man said, “I have no money on me.” Tukkarm said, “No! No! There is no need for any payment. You are uttering the Name of the Lord! You are a Sadhu. Please yourself.” The man filled his bags and went away. And so did many others finding Tukkaram behind the counter. Soon all boxes were empty. Tukkaram’s wife came to the shop and was highly pleased that her husband had done a quick business. She asked him, “How much business have you done today?” and looked into the cash box. There was not a coin there. Shocked, she questioned Tukkaram. Tukkaram said, “Oh! Madwoman! Would anyone sell provisions to those who utter the Name of the Lord? Many came today singing the Name of the Lord and I gave it all to them without charging a paise.” The poor lady went back into the house not knowing what to do. She was deeply concerned about her children who had not a morsel of food to eat.
‘Ãshada Ekadasi’ was fast approaching and Tukkaram decided to visit Pandarpur for the occasion. On ‘Ãshada Ekadasi’ lakhs and lakhs of Sadhus from all over the country gather in Pandarpur. His wife said to Tukkaram, “Please arrange for some food and clothing for the children before you leave for Pandaripur.” Tukkaram said to her, “This family is not mine. Nor is this my house. They are all Panduranga’s. He will take care of it.” Uttering these words he set out to Pandarpur. He had hardly gone a few feet when he found a big group of Sadhus, singing the Praises of the Lord, coming up the street. He rushed to them and enquired, “Where are you all coming from? Are you all proceeding to Pandarpur? Have you all had your bath and food?” The Sadhus said that they had come the previous evening and had not yet had any food. Tukkaram at once invited them home. He said to them, “My home is close by. Please do come home; have your bath and have food and rest. You may then proceed to Pandarpur. I will also accompany you all.” So the hundred or so Sadhus followed Tukkaram to his home.
Just a few minutes earlier he had disowned the home and family. But, now he had brought the hundred Sadhus to ‘his’ home. He called out to his wife and said, “Sadhus have come home. Prepare food for them.” The poor lady was baffled. But, being used to the ways of her husband, she somehow managed to get something and cooked for all the Sadhus. The Sadhus performed Nama Sankirtan. The whole house was lit up with the presence of the Sadhus singing the Name of the Lord. They stayed in Tukkaram’s home for three days. The Nama Sankirtan performed by these Sadhus filled Tukkaram’s heart. He did not feel any need to visit Pandarpur.
Once the Sadhus left their home, his wife asked Tukkaram, “I informed you that there was not a grain at home but you disowned the family and home and left for Pandarpur. But, you returned as quickly with so many Sadhus. How did you bring so many of them home when you knew that there was nothing at home?” Tukkaram said, “It is only your presence that encouraged me to invite them all home.”
Whenever Tukkaram returned home his wife used to offer water to wash his feet. But, one evening his wife was not at home when he returned. When she came home after some half-an-hour he asked her, “Where have you been?” She said hesitatingly, “The children at home have to be fed. You are unable to attend to the family needs. Therefore, I earn through cleaning the dishes in few houses.” The shocked Tukkaram said to her in an apologizing tone, “From tomorrow do not go anywhere. I will try to get some job and earn something for the family.” He went to some houses in the village to ask for some work. But, the moment he entered a house he was welcomed with honour and affection. They washed his feet and offered something to eat. When he told them the purpose of his visit they were aghast. They said, “Swami! You are a great Sadhu. How can we make you work for us? It is verily a sin. We will provide you with all your needs but do not say that you wish to work for us.” But, Tukkaram would not accept a single paise or grain from anyone. Since he was not able to procure a job in that village, he went to a distant land and there he managed to get the job of guarding a field.
Tukkaram was happy to have secured this kind of a job, which posed no block to his Namasankirtan. He happily said to his employer, “I will take good care of your field.”
He sat on the wooden platform that had been placed on a tree and singing the Name of the Lord watched over the field. Soon he lost himself in the thought of Bhagavan. Birds, goats and cows entered the field. To Tukkaram every one of them seemed to be Panduranga. He said, “Oh! Panduranga! Come! Come! Have a feast. Eat to your fill. All are verily yours!” All of them had a great day and that evening when the owner came to the field he was aghast to find everything lost. The whole field was in havoc. The furious man caught hold of Tukkaram and shook him up. He shouted angrily, “What have you done? I asked you to guard my field from animals and birds. I have lost everything. You have to make up for the loss.” Tukkaram, who was now out of his trance, realized what had happened and deeply regretted the negligence on his part. He said, “Sir! I have nothing with me to pay you. If I did, I would not have sought this job from you. I am sorry for what has happened.” The employer said, “Well! Let us go to the king and ask for justice.” The horrified Tukkaram said, “No! Let us not go to the king.” Tukkaram was not afraid of the king. Shivaji was his disciple and if they went to him this good man who had offered employment to him would have to face the wrath of the king. He wished to avoid this situation. He, therefore, said to him, “You may beat me as much as you want for the wrong done.”
The employer tied up Tukkaram to a tree and slashed him with a whip. Tukkaram exclaimed, “Vittala!” The angry employer barked, “Are you the great Tukkaram that you call out ‘Vittala’?” Tukkaram said, “I am Tukkaram.” The employer was horrified to learn that it was the great Sadhu Tukkaram whom he had employed and had now tied to a pole and whipped. He fell at Tukkaram’s feet and pleaded, “Master! What a great sin I have committed. Please say that you have forgiven me; otherwise my whole family and the generations before and after me will stand cursed for my misdeed.” Tukkaram hugged him and said, “You have not done any wrong.” The man said, “Your Lotus Feet have touched this field. What has been lost now will soon be gained in hundred folds. I have nothing to worry on this account.” He then filled a cartload of sugarcane from another field of his and offered it to Tukkaram.
Riding the cart of sugarcane Tukkaram reached home. He said to his wife, “I have earned a cartload of sugarcane today.” She said, “What can we do with this sugarcane? Please take them to the market and sell them so that we can buy food for our children.” Tukkaram turned the cart towards the market. Children are fond of sugarcane. Tukkaram had hardly gone a few yards when children came rushing to the cart singing loudly, “Ramakrishna Hari! Vittala! Panduranga!” The Name of the Lord was enough to distribute the sugarcane to the children. With just one sugarcane left in the cart, Tukkaram returned home. Tukkaram’s wife asked him, “Have all sugarcane been sold out? Where is the money? Let us buy food for our children.” Tukkaram said to her, “Oh! No! I have not sold them in the market. Children came running to the cart singing the Lord’s Name. I could not help distributing it to the children who joyously cried out the Lord’s Name.”
His wife could take it no more. She lost her temper. She was deeply distraught that her children had to go without food for another day. She picked up the last sugarcane in the cart and beat Tukkaram’s back with it. The sugarcane split into two halves. Tukkaram smilingly pointed out to her, “See! How great Bhagavan is! He has used your hand and my back to split the sugarcane into two equal halves so that we do not quarrel over our share.” Coming back to her senses, his wife fell at his feet and said with tears, “How can you smile even at this moment. Don’t you feel angry? How is it that you do not lose your temper at any point of time? What have I done in my anger? Please forgive me.” Tukkaram consoled her. He said to her, “How happy is our life! Everyday, every moment we enjoy the Name of the Lord. Sadhus visit our home frequently. There is Nama sankirtan every day.”
Tukkaram had sung innumerable kirtans on Bhagavan. Once a great Brahmin scholar Rameshwar Bhat was discoursing. Finding a lot of people moving past his place he enquired of those few who sat listening to him, “Where are all these people going?” They said that these people were going to listen to Tukkaram. Every night Tukkaram used to sing his simple kirtans and now and then stop to discourse on it. All the villagers would gather round to listen to him. This would go on until three in the morning. During the day, at work, all of them would sing Tukkaram’s kirtans that were very simple and devotion filled. Hearing this he was furious. He immediately went to Tukkaram. He told him that he knew all the Shastras. And said “You should stop your discourse from now.” Anyone else would have argued with the Brahmin. But, Sadhus are humility personified. Therefore Tukkaram said, “Sir! I am sorry. But, I have never offered any ‘upadesa’ to any one. All my kirtans only praise the Lord. They describe the Lord’s beauty and ‘gunas’. However, you are a learned scholar. As such you know better. Tell me what should I do?” Rameshwar bhat said, “Bundle up your kirtans and throw them into the Chandrabhaga river. And from now onwards stop singing your kirtans.” Tukkaram bundled all his kirtans and threw them into the Chandrabhaga. He experienced deep pain as if he had pushed into the river a child of his whom he had brought up lovingly. He then sat on the banks of the river without food or sleep.
After three days, when the Pandas (priests) in Pandarpur temple opened the doors of Lord Panduranga’s sannidhi they found a wet sack on the head of the Lord. It was dripping with water and the Lord’s garments were totally wet. Wonder struck they took the sack from the Lord’s head and opened it. They found innumerable writings with the stamp of ‘Tukkaram’ in them. They realized that it was the kirtans of the Sadhu who visited the temple from Dehu Road. They immediately took the kirtans to Tukkaram.
When Tukkaram saw them with his writings, he asked them, “It is I who had thrown them in the river. Why did you retrieve them?”
The Pandas explained, “No! We did not retrieve them from the river. We found them on the Lord’s head this morning when we opened the door to perform ‘prabodanam’. Since they all carry your stamp we realized that they are all your kirtans. We, therefore, came to return them to you.”
Tukkaram’s joy knew no bounds as he realized that Panduranga had accepted his kirtans.
He asked the Lord, “If you approve of them why this delay in bringing them to me, Oh! Lord! I have been sitting here without food and sleep these for the past three days.”
The Lord said to him, “Tukkaram! They were so wonderful that I have been reading them for the past three days!”
Learning about the incident, Rameshwar Bhat came running to Tukkaram and fell at his feet. “I did not realize your greatness. Please forgive me for the wrong done.” Tukkaram shrunk away pleading, “You are a great scholar. You know all the Shastras. How can you fall at my feet? Please do not fall at my feet.” Such is the humility of Sadhus.
Tukkaram said to Bhagavan, “It is said that one who sings Your Name reaches Vaikunta. But, I desire to reach Vaikunta with this physical body. It is only in this physical body that I have sung Your Praises since my birth. Moreover, only if I leave for Vaikunta in this physical body will people believe it. They will not know and would refuse to believe that I have attained Vaikunta if I leave in my ‘sukshma sariira’ (subtle body).” Bhagavan complied with his request and informed him the date and time when He (the Lord) would come down to the earth and take him to Vaikunta.
People gathered around Tukkaram on the prescribed date and time to watch him leave for Vaikunta. On the appointed date and time Tukkaram sat with his ‘tamboora’ singing the Praises of the Lord. Bhagavan came down in a ‘vimana’ and took Tukkaram to Vaikunta in his physical body.
In later years when Tukkaram’s grandson was performing discourse people questioned him, “Is it true that your grandfather attained Vaikunta in his physical body?” The young man prayed to the Lord, “If it is true that my grandfather attained your Lotus Feet in his physical body then let this ‘tamboora’ (one of the ‘tambooras’ used by Tukkaram) leave for Vaikunta even as people watch it.” Immediately the ‘tamboora’ floated up towards Vaikunta.
There was once a great devotee of Lord Shiva who lived in Mylapore in Tamil Nadu. He had a very devout daughter by name Poompavai. She came to know that Sri Thirunazhna Sambandar was going to visit Mylapore to have the darshan of Lord Kapaleshawar. On hearing the great news, her joy knew no bounds and she started to prepare all the papads, pickle and was planning on cooking a great feast for her lord, Sri Thirunazhnasambandar. But as fate would have it, Poompavai died before Sri Thirunazhnasambandar visited Mylapore. She took her father’s hands and told him, “Oh father! All my life I have been waiting to see my lord, Sri Thirunazhnasambandar. Now that it is not going to happen, can you please take my ashes and bones and place under his holy feet.” And saying so she died. The great day arrived and Thirunazhnasambandar came and as requested by Poompavai, her father invited him and his disciples to his home and served him the great meal which was cooked by Poompavai. After the meal, he brought in the pot which contained the bones and ashes of Poompavai and placed it at his feet. Thirunazhnasambandar listened everything from her father on what had happened and at the end of it, he sang ten hymns and at the end of the tenth verse, Poompavai was back to life. Her father requested him to marry her but he turned down the request and told her father that she re-incarnated to do service to the lord.It is very clear that by listening to the life-histories of the devotees of the lord would instill bhakti in all of us.
The satsang wrapped up with prayers with Namasankirtan.
Apr 3: Rama Navami & Sant Tulsidas
In Srimad Bhagavatam, there is an episode where the Prachetas are instructed to perform penance to the Lord. They head in a particular direction towards doing penances. When they were in a confusion as to how to meditate on the Lord and what to ask, Lord Shiva himself comes as a guru and instructs them. In the song known as the “Rudra Geetam”, He describes the beautiful form of the Lord to meditate upon. He says, “When God comes in front of you, do not ask Him to bestow you with any worldly or spiritual goodness. If at all you ask for something, it should be satsang for even half a second.
Kshanaardhenaapi tulayam na svargam naapunarbhavam |
bhagavat sangi sangasya martyaanaam kimutaasishah ||
The union with Bhagavatas is indeed the rarest of the rarest. Satsang represents sheer bhakti. Association with a Jivan Mukta, or constant chanting of the Divine Name and listening to the glories of the Divine is indeed satsang.
The Nama chanting was lead by Sri Thiagaraj and family from Dallas. It was Rama Navami, a very auspicious day.
Followed by brief round of introductions, Gayatriji from Boston gave a blissful satsang talk.
When Sri Sukha talks to King Parikshit about Prahalad’s life-history he says “Yat bhagavatha mahatmyam bhagavat bhakti vardanam”. By listening to the life-histories of the devotees of the lord, one develops bhakti. Why should one develop bhakti? Our aim in life is to reach the holy feet of God. Bhakti is a special path because the journey to the destination is enjoyable if that path is followed. Unlike other margas, where one has to perform many difficult tasks and also undergo lot of physical stress to attain God, the path of bhakti is very pleasant and is very joyful indeed. How does one develop bhakti? We are not the right person to define what bhakti is. We tend to develop bhakti by listening to the life-histories of great devotees. One such devotee of Lord Rama was Sri. Tulsidas.
Tulsidas was born in a village near Kasi under a tulasi plant. What is special about a Tulsi plant? Every other flower releases its fragrance only when it blooms but tulsi releases its fragrance right from the time it sprouts. Akin to the tulasi plant, Tulsidas exhibited his love for Lord Rama ever since his birth. Instead of crying “qua qua” he shouted “Rama Rama” when he was an infant. Being born in a Brahmin family, he learnt all the shastras and Upanishads. His parents got him married to a woman by name Ratnavali.
Tulsidas was a person who loved his wife a lot. He worked as an adviser for a king. The king one day asked Tulsidas to accompany him to a trip to some other town. Tulsidas couldn’t deny this offer but was also not very happy to leave his wife alone. He cautioned his wife Ratnavali to be at most cautious when she was alone. Those days it was not safe to leave women alone at home. So he stocked his house with all groceries and promised his wife that he would return in a few months. But his trip got delayed and it took some more months for Tulsidas to return to his town. The day when he returned he found that his wife was not home and the house was locked. He immediately enquired his neighbors and they informed him that she had left for her parents’ place. They also informed him that she was accompanied by an unknown person. Scared, Tulsidas started to his parents-in-law’s place. It was dark when he went there and he found her sleeping in her room. Ratnavali was shocked to see Tulsidas and asked him “Why did you come here at this point of time?” In reply, he asked her how she could leave that house and come to her parents place. He told her that he was very much worried about her. Ratnavali said “Oh You always tell that Lord Rama will always take care of everything –
“Apathadam apahartharam dhathaaram Sarvasampadaam
lokabiramam Sriramam bhooyo bhooyo Namamyaham”So why should you worry that I am in danger when Lord Rama will always be there in case of any lingering danger? She continued further and said “You love my body that is made of bones and flesh more than what you love Lord Rama. Had you placed the same love upon Lord Rama, you should have seen Lord Rama by now”. This enlightened Tulsidas. He decided to do Bhakti to Lord Rama and wished to have his darshan and so he left for Kasi the very same night.
Since then, he performed crores and crores of Rama Nama chanting in the mornings and in the evenings he discoursed on Ramayana. In the night, he used to write his own version of Ramayana in Sanskrit. One morning, when he woke up, he found that all the Ramayana he wrote the previous night were all gone. However, the leaves in which he wrote the Ramayana still remained there but all the slokas had disappeared. So Tulsidas decided to see who the culprit was and stayed awake the whole night. And guess who that person was? It was none other than Lord Shiva. He had done this deliberately so that he could talk to Tulsidas and request him to write Ramayana in Prakrita Bhassha, which is the local language so that the local people could understand it better. From then on he started to write Ramayana in Prakrita bhassha. Every evening he discoursed on the portion of Ramayana he wrote the previous night. Tulsidas noticed an old man who came to his lectures every day and he listened to his lectures with rapt attention and with tears flowing in his eyes.
One morning after his daily ablutions, he splashed the water from his kamanadalu in a nearby tree and instantly a brahma rakshasha (a demon) came out of the tree. Tulsidas asked “who are you? The demon said that he had got this birth as a demon because of the sins he had incurred in the past. And now the Rama Nama Kamandalu Thirtha (the holy water) had purified him and just when he was about to leave to his holy abode, he expressed his desire to do some good deed for Tulsidas. Tulsidas told the demon that all his life he has been longing to have the darshan of Lord Rama and asked him if he can help him get the darshan of Lord Rama. The demon replied back by saying that he didn’t have the powers to give him Lord Rama’s darshan. He however told him that the old man who listens to his daily lectures with rapt attention was none other than Lord Hanuman.
Tulsidas now couldn’t wait for the evening lecture. When the lecture was over, he immediately followed the old man behind and fell at his feet. Tulsidas said to the old man, “I know that you are Lord Hanuman”. The moment he said that, the old man disappeared and there was hanuman. From that day onwards, Lord hanuman and Tulsidas became friends. Tulsidas in a song sings, “Pavanathanaya Paramasakha”
One day Tulsidas asked Hanuman if he could recommend Lord Rama to bless him with his darshan. Hanuman agreed to put forth the request to Lord Rama. He told Hanuman that he didn’t want a darhsan of Lord Rama for few seconds and instead desired to have Lord Rama come to his house, have dinner at his place and rest that night. He came back to Tulsidas and told him that he will have Lord Rama’s darshan on the next Punarvasu day. On hearing this he was very excited to see Lord Rama.
On the day of Punarvasu, he prepared everything for Lord Rama and was eagerly waiting for him, when he suddenly heard heavy footsteps at the door in the middle of the night. The sound was akin to an army marching towards his door. Tulsidas feared that it could be attackers and that they could damage all the decorations that he had done for his Lord and decided not to open the door. The sound receded after sometime and was quite very soon.
Next day, Tulsidas was very upset that he didn’t have Lord Rama’s darshan and asked Hanuman as to why even his words went wrong. Hanuman told him that Lord Rama had indeed been to his house and knocked his house but he didn’t open the door. After listening to this, Tulsidas asked him if it was a reason to not to bless him with his darshan. He told hanuman that he could have himself opened the door and come in to give him darshan. Hanumanji immediately told him that it was not how he wished to have Lord Rama’s darshan! Since he wanted Lord Rama to come like an ordinary person, Lord Rama decided to do so. Tulsidas felt that he lacked bhakti and thought that hanuman’s words would never go wrong. He went to Brindavan and performed Ramayana Navaham and that’s where he was blessed with Lord Rama’s darshan.
People in Brindavan greet each other by saying “Radhe Radhe”, whereas Tulsidas who didn’t want to let go his Rama bhakti greeted everyone by saying “Sitaram”. Tulsidas was sitting and reading out Ramayana right across the Vamshi Vat. Suddenly he heard the sound of a flute and turned back and there was Lord Krishna standing in front of him with his Vyatyasta Charana with his flute and peacock feather in his head. Tulsidas was now very confused as to whether he wanted to have Lord Krishna’s darshan or not. All these years he had truly wished to see Lord Rama and not lord Krishna. He requested Lord Krishna to go away. Lord Krishna said to him that he would not go away. He said that a great saint (mahan) has come to his place to discourse on Ramayana and that he wouldn’t go away. Tulsidas decided not to get distracted with Lord Krishna’s darshan and continued to read Ramayana with rapt attention. But the beauty of Lord Krishna had a greater impact on him than his Ramayana and Lord Rama. With tears rolling down his eyes, he fell at the feet of Lord Krishna and said, “Oh Lord Krishna, I am akin to a pathivratha (a faithful wife). I am a Rama Bhakta! Please preserve my bhakti for Lord Rama. Please bestow me with a darshan of Lord Rama. Lord Krishna told Tulsidas that “Pathivratha para grham na gacheth”. Pathi vratha does not go to somebody else’s house. You are not in Ayodhya, but in Brindavan! He further added that even if a Pathivratha goes to somebody’s house, she would not see the men in that house. Even if she saw the men, she would not talk to them. Lord Krishna said that he had not only seen him but also talked to him. Even when talking to the Lord, he should have only referenced Ramayana and Lord Rama in the conversation. Tulsidas pleaded with him asking him to preserve this bhakti to Lord Rama. He stood and raised his hands. Immediately his flute became the bow and arrow and there stood Lord Rama. Krishna told him that he will show his form as he desired and blessed him with Lord Rama’s darshan. Thus Tulsidas was blessed with Lord Rama’s darshan. With all humility, he prayed to Lord Rama
“Tu dayalu deena ham
Tu dhani ham bhikari
Ham Prasidda papa ki
Tu papa punja haari”He returned to Kasi and established an ashram there. During the day, many sadhus used to visit the ashram and have the darshan of Tulsidas, recite Ramayana for some time and take leave. One day few Brahmin sadhus had come to have darshan of Tulsidas. After their morning ablutions, they were seated to have their lunch. At that instant of time, a person who appeared to be Bhagavatha, with sita ram cloth on his body, chandan on him and came inside singing the nama kirtan. Tulsidas was very happy to see him and invited him to have lunch. When he was about to be seated , the Brahmin sadhus got up and told Tulsidas that it was not correct to have lunch with that man and it is one of the means to accrue sin. Tulsidas told him that anyone who chants the name of Lord Rama is not a sinner. The Brahmins did not reconcile to this fact. Tulsidas in the meanwhile took the uchistam (the left-over of the food) and placed it in front of the Nandi in the temple and started to pray. Nandi came right there to consume the food and that verily proved the fact that the divine name chanting of the lord can do wonders.
It was the Akbar reign then and he honored people who were adept in different skills. He had a love for music. Tulsidas who was very skillful in music was invited by Akbar to his court. Tulsidas had accepted the invitation. After Tulsidas sang some songs on Lord Rama,the king asked Tulsidas if he can recommend his name to Lord Rama so that he is blessed with his darshan. Tulsidas told the king that he didn’t have enough qualifications to see Lord Rama. Akbar immediately asked as to what are the qualifications to see Lord Rama. Anybody who aspires to see Lord Rama should have Rama bhakti. How can one get Rama Bhakti, the king questioned. Tulsidas replied that one should always think of Lord Rama, perform to pooja to Rama’s idol, speak Rama stories(Katha), sing Rama’s praises. Live for rama and breathe for Rama. When King Akbar heard that he was not eligible enough to see Lord Rama, he threw Tulsidas into the prison. Since Hanuman was Tulsidas’s pal, he called him for help and requested him to ask Lord Rama to save him. Hanuman told Tulsidas that they themselves can deal with this issue and not involve Lord Rama! So that night, about a dozen huge monkeys called gorilla monkeys, came into the palace and ransacked the whole palace. The king was furious because every single item in the palace which his queen would enjoy had been destroyed. When he inquired about this incident to his minister, he was told that it was because of Tulsidas arrest who is an ardent devotee of Lord Rama. The king immediately went to his prison and there Tulsidas told him that he had requested Lord Rama to give darshan to the king and it looks like his family is in the midst of arrival and Lord Rama will himself be here shortly. Akbar took back his request to see Lord Rama and Tulsidas told him that anyone who values his palace and other worldly possessions more than Lord Rama doesn’t deserve to see him. He then walked out of the prison and went back to his ashram and lived happily by spreading the glories of Rama Nama.”
Following this wonderful lecture, Narayananji from Boston talked about Lord Hanuman. In all our Friday satsangs, there is one person who sits and listens to the satsang but is always anonymous. It is none other than our Hanunmanji. It is said that –
“Yatra Yatra Raghunatha Kirthanam
Thatra Thatra krutam mastakaanjalim
Bhaspavari paripurna lochanam
Maruthim mamada raakshasaandhakam”
Wherever there is chanting of Lord Rama’s Names, wherever one reminisces on Lord Rama, Hanumanji is verily in that place listening to all of these. It is true even today.
There is a great saint in the lineage of Sringeri Mutt. He happened to narrate Ramayana and he kept a plate which had fruits that was offered to Hanuman. One of his disciples one day asked this saint about the plate. The saint replied that it was for Hanuman as he comes wherever Rama Katha is being expounded. But this disciple didn’t quite understand it. When the Ramayana katha was about to conclude on the last day, Hanumanaji did come in form of a vanara and consumed the fruits and went away. This dates back to some few years ago.
In 2004 Our Guru maharaj preformed a Maha Samrajya Patabishekha, in which about hundred and twenty eight Bhagavathas were reading Ramayana. There was one person who listened to Ramayana with full concentration and when there was a small break during the parayana, he used to climb a tree and chant Rama Nama and when the parayana resumed he joined back again. He participated in each and every event during the navaham and after the nineth day he was not to be found. Our Guru Maharaj told the devotees that he was verily a form of Hanuman.
Following this, Sri Thiagarajan talked on the difference between Sharadha navarathiri and Vasantha navarathiri. The former is very holy for goddess Devi and Rama Navami falls during the Vasantha Navarathiri. It is very auspicious to do any parayana or chanting the divine names of the Lord during Vasantha Navarathiri. It is a good time to do Ramayana Parayana because Rama Navami falls on the navami day akin to Sarasawati pooja which also falls on the navami day of the Sharadha navarathiri.
The satsang wrapped up with Namasankirtan prayers.
